Refrigerating apparatus



May 9, 1950 J. w. JACOBS REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1946 INVENTOR. Jh/7:5 [fl/ J4 C055. BY

Patented May 9, 1950 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS James W. Jacobs, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application June 18, 1946, Serial No. 677,567

5 Claims. 1

This invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and particularly to a door structure for such cabinets. Y

An object of my invention is to provide an lmproved refrigerator cabinet door construction of low manufacturing cost.

Another object of my invention is to provide a substantially hermetically sealed refrigerator cabinet door with an arrangement for removably securing a seal thereto which is adapted to engage a wall of the cabinet.

A further object of my invention is to lock one sheet-like wall-forming member of a refrigerator cabinet door to the other sheet-like wall-forming member thereof by a portion of one of the members to eliminate the use of screws and bolts or the like.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet door with an inner non-metallic wall member and to secure the same directly to an outer sheet metal wall member thereof by bending a portion of the metal wall over the peripheral edge portion of the inner wall for sealing insulation within the space between the walls.

A more specific object of my invention in securing the inner and outer wall members of a refrigerator cabinet door directly to one another without the use of additional securing means, is to form in the outer wall member a channel and means cooperating with the channel to removably lock a mounting portion of a door seal therein.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig, l is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet having my invention embodied therein and showing a portion of the'cabinet door broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, showing the cabinet door in closed position; and

Fig. 3 ls a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the cabinet door showing the position of certain parts thereof prior to locking the door members together.

Referring to the drawings, for illustrating the invention, I have shown in Fig. l thereof a refrigerator cabinet of the household type generally designated by the reference character I0. Cabinet I0 includes metal exterior shells or panels II and an interior metal liner I2 forming walls of a food storage compartment or chamber I3 within the cabinet. Any suitable or desirable insulating material I4 is disposed between the liner I2 and the walls II of the cabinet (see Fig. 2). vAn evaporator or cooling element I5 of a conventional refrlgerating system is mounted in the upper part of compartment I3 for cooling and causing circulation of air therein. An insulated fra'meless door, generally represented by the reference character I6, normally closes an opening in the front wall of cabinet I0, which provides access to the food storage compartment I3 wh/egi/tle door ls opened. Another door or/eover/Il may close an opening in the front/nf cabinet I0 leading to a machine compartment located below the food compartment I3 and which houses the refrigerating mechanism operatively connected, in the wellknown manner, with the evaporator I5. The food compartment door I6 carries a. seal element which engages the iront wall of cabinet I0 about the access opening of compartment I3 and my invention is particularly directed to the construction of this door and the method of removably locking the seal element thereon.

In the present disclosure, door I6 comprises a sheet metal wall-forming member 2|, shaped to provide the outer face and sides of the door, a nonmetallic sheet-like wall-forming member 22, shaped to provide the inner face or wall of the door, and suitable insulating material 23 disposed in the chamber formed between the walls (see Fig. 2). A flange portion on the sheet metal member 2l and spaced from the front face of the door, includes a part 24 which is bent or turned inwardly from the sides thereof. A part of the flange portion on member 2| is thence bent or turned forwardly away from the part 24 and toward the front of door I6 as at 26. Another part 21 of the flange portion on member 2| is bent to parallel the part 24 and the irc-nt face of the door. Another part 28 of the flange portion on member 2I is bent rearwardly away from the part 21 toward the rear of the door. Still another part 29 of the flange portion on member 2l is bent to parallel the parts 24 and 21 and to extend back toward the sides of the door. The bent parts 26, 21 and 28 of tbe flange portion on member 2l form, or provide. a channel 3| (see Fig. 3) extending around the door I6 and in which a seal element adapted to engage the front wall of cabinet I0 is removably mounted. as will be more fully described hereinafter. The wall part 29 of the flange portion on member 2l provides a ledge or support against which the peripheral edge portion 33 of the non-metallic inner door-forming wall 22 abuts. In addition, this part 28 on member 2| also forms a top wall portion over a part of the width of the channel 3| to provide means for locking the seal element upon the door I6. An extension 32 (see Fig. 3) on the flange portion of the outer metal door member 2| is bent over the peripheral edge portion 33 of the inner non-metallic door Wall 22 to firmly secure the wall members directly to one another and to substantially hermetically seal the insulating material 23 therebetween.

The bent parts 26, 21, 28 and 29 in the flange portion of outer metal door wall 2|, in addition to providing walls of the channel 3| and strengthening the door after assembly of elements thereof, also prevents twisting of the member 2| during the process of baking a vitreous enamel coating thereon. The inner sheet-like door wall or pan member 22 may be formed of any suitable non-metallic material and painted to match the color of the interior finish of food compartment |3. The member 22 may be formed of a glass-like polystyrene molded from a powder obtainableron the market under the name of Styron As previously mentioned the door I6 carries a rubber element for engaging the front wall of cabinet l to seal the compartment access opening from heat leakage about the door. Such a seal element is designated by the reference character 36 (see Fig. 2) and includes a hollow flexible sealing portion 31 engaging the front wall of cabinet l0 and an integral hook-like hollow resilient portion 38 mounted in the channel 3|. After the extension 32 is bent from the position thereof, shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, into the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings to lock the door members 2| and 22 together, the resilient mounting portion 38 of seal element 36 is compressed and forced into the channel 3|. The portion 38 of element 3S being wedged between the top wall portion 28 and the portions 28 and 21 of door member 2| firmly locks the seal element upon the door I 6 without the use of other or additional seal attaching means. The flexible sealing portion 31 of element 36 lies over the extension 32 on wall member 2| to conceal the same from view. While the seal element 36 is firmly attached to door I6 it is, due to the mounting portion 38 thereof being resilient, removable from the door should the same become damaged. By elevating the flexible portion 31 of the seal element 36 and pulling outwardly on the neck or connecting portion intermediate the two portions 31 /and 38 thereof, the mounting portion 38 can be removed from the channel 3| to detach the element 36 from the door. It is to be understood that any suitable lubricantor the like may be applied to surfaces of the element 3i during the operation of attaching the same to or detaching the same from door I6 to facilitate slipping of the rubber along the surfaces of door member 2|.

It will be seen that I have provided an improved door construction for a refrigerator cabinet door which is simplified and of lower manufacturing cost due to the elimination of screws or other means for locking the inner and outer doorforming walls together. By virtue of my improved door structure the insulation between the sheet-like walls is hermetically sealed and the door hardware, such as the hinges and latch, are attached to the door from the outside thereof so as not to break the hermetic seal of the insulation. Such hinges and latches and the manner of attaching them to a door from the exterior thereof What is claimed is as follows: 1. A door for a refrigerator cabinet comprising, an inner sheet-like wall-forming member and an outer sheet-like wa1l-forming member providing a chamber therebetween, insulating material within said chamber, said outer member having a p0rtion thereof extending inwardly from sides of the door in spaced relation to the front thereof, a part of said portion of said outer member being reversely bent to extend back toward the sides of said door and forming a top wall portion of a channel around said door inward- 1y of the sides thereof, means for securing said inner member directly to said outer member, said means comprising an extension of said'channel top wall portion of said outer member bent over the peripheral edge portion of said inner member, and a seal element including a resilient mounting portion disposed in the channel around said door and an integral flexible portion extending therefrom for sealingly engaging a wall of the cabinet.

2. A door for a refrigerator cabinet comprising an inner non-metallic sheet-like wall-forming member and an outer sheet metal wall member providing a chamber therebetween, insulating material within said chamber, said outer metal wall member having a portion extending inwardly from sides of the door in spaced relation to the front thereof, a part of said portion of said outer metal wall member being reversely bent to extend back toward the sides of said door and forming a top wall portion of a channel around said door inwardly of the sides thereof, means for securing said inner member directly to said outer member, said means comprising an extension of said channel top wall portion of said outer member bent over the peripheral edge portion of said inner member, and 9, seal element including a resilient mounting portion disposed in the channel around said door and an integral flexible portion lying over and concealing said extension on said outer member and adapted to sealingly engage a wall of the cabinet.

3. A door for a refrigerator cabinet comprising. an inner sheet-like wall-forming member and an outer sheet-like wall-forming member providing a chamber therebetween, insulating material within said chamber, said outer member having a portion extending inwardly from sides of the door thence forwardly toward the front thereof and again inwardly from sides of the door thence rearwardly toward the back of the door to form a channel therearound, a part of said outer member adjacent said rearwardly extending portion thereof being reversely bent to extend back toward the sides of said door and forming a top wall portion of said channel around the door, the peripheral edge portion of said inner member abutting said top wall portion of said channel, means for securing the abutting portions of said members directly to one another, said means comprising an extension of said channel top wall-forming portion of said outer member bent over the peripheral edge portion of said inner member. and a seal element inasomo 5 cluding a resilient mounting portion disposed in the channel around said door and an integral flexible portion extending therefrom for sealingly engaging a wall of the cabinet.

4. A door for a refrigerator cabinet comprising. an inner non-metallic sheet-like wall-forming member and an outer sheet metal wall member providing a chamber therebetween, insulating material within said chamber, said outer metal wall member having a portion extending inwardly from sides of the door thence forwardly toward the front thereof and again inwardly from sides of the door thence rearwardly toward the back of the door to form a channel therearound, a part of said outer member adjacent said rearwardly extending portion thereof being reversely bent to extend back toward the sides of said door and forming a top wall portion of said channel around the door, the peripheral edge portion of said inner member abutting said top wall portion of said channel, means for securing the abutting portions of said members directly to one another. said means comprising an extension of said channel top wall-forming portion of said outer member bent over the peripheral edge porsaid outer member, said means comprising an extension of said'portion of said outer wall bent over the edge portion of said inner member. and a seal element including a. resilient mounting portion disposed in the channel around said door and secured thereto by said inne:` member support part of said outer member, and an integral exible portion for sealingly engaging a wall of the cabinet.

JAMES W. JACOBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Namey Date 2,296,024 Drake Sept. 15, issie 2,406,629 Petkwitz Aug. 27, we@ 

